All you need is love and law

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At the 2005 Q Awards, Yoko Ono mentioned that John Lennon was insecure about his songwriting abilities.  She had reassured him by saying: You're a good songwriter; it's not June with spoon that you write...

Lennon tended to tackle the BIG issues in his songs.  Two themes that he (and Yoko) often focused upon were peace and love.  All You Need Is Love was written by Lennon, although officially credited to McCartney also.  Brian Epstein, erstwhile manager of The Beatles, said that this is an "inspired song" because it has "a clear message saying that love is everything."

Nevertheless, Lennon was well aware that humans weren't there yet.  That is why he viewed his art as visionary.  If humans were to ever reach that pinnacle, then there wouldn't be a need for prisons, parole boards, or recurrent letters from Yoko Ono stating that Mark David Chapman (Lennon's assassin) should remain indefinitely behind bars.  In one such letter, Ono declared: Violence begets violence.  If it is at all possible, I would like us to not create a situation which may bring further madness and tragedy to the world.

The gap between visionary ideals and current realities is often the greatest tragedy of all.  With enough love, that gap may eventually be bridged.  In the meantime, laws must suffice.

Resources

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/13/1122633330/john-lennon-killer-mark-david-chapman-1980-denied-parole